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THE MAPLE HEIGHTS OPINION PAGE

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Please leave your opinions or comments on any subject (not just about Maple Heights); however, do not use extreme vulgarity or content that is not allowed on blogger, or is, or suggests something that is illegal (it will be removed). You don't have to live in Maple Heights to leave an opinion or comment.

There needs to be a citizen's advisory board, and a civilian review board in Maple Heights. If those in charge can't afford to pay police pensions, then you can't afford to pay for luxuries like special occasion events, giveaways, prizes, freebies; and you can't ask the voters to pass levies when you've given away the store. There will be no more out of town trips, no luxuries, no summer jobs, etc. And stop the "borrowing from Peter to pay Paul". Get your "house in order" Maple Heights, or the state will do it for you.

"Chicago's 49th Ward is better known as Rogers Park. It's a neighborhood of middle-class houses and apartment buildings, home to Loyola University. It's known for diversity and an affordable, laid-back kind of cool.

But the 49th has a new claim to fame: In 2009, the ward's alderman, Joe Moore, became the first elected official in the country to hand over the purse strings to his constituents. Three years later, the experiment is still attracting new residents to planning meetings.

Forming Ideas

"I am ceding my power to decide how this money is spent and giving it to you," Moore said to a group of about 40 people on a cold November night last fall.

Residents sat in folding chairs at the Willye B. White Community Center as Moore told them that each ward in Chicago gets $1.3 million a year from the city to spend on capital improvements.

Usually, the aldermen themselves decide how to spend the money. For the third year, Moore is using an alternative process called "participatory budgeting." The first step is a series of neighborhood meetings, where people call out ideas.

Among those offering ideas in the community center was Robin McPherson, a grandmother in her 50s. She is polite but intense, with a gold cross around her neck. McPherson works for a nonprofit group, helping to house people with HIV.

She has lived in the neighborhood for decades, but this was her first participatory budgeting meeting. She signed up to serve on one of the volunteer committees that spend months meeting and doing research. They pare down long lists of projects from these first meetings to just a few items that go on a ballot for a special spring election.

McPherson had a project of her own in mind. In her neighborhood park, there are two poles stuck into a concrete slab, essentially a pair of showers for children to stand under on a hot day. Since one of those children is McPherson's 2-year-old granddaughter, she wanted something fancier. She envisioned water rings for the kids to go through with "whirly water" spraying in all directions.

"I just think it would bring a lot of families together, different cultures and ethnic groups," she said."

Go to: http://www.npr.org/2012/05/26/153747108/chicago-ward-gives-budgetary-power-to-the-people&sc=fb&cc=fp to read and listen to the entire.

I really don't understand what's wrong with the black people in Maple Heights. If a black person is trying to do right and help them they turn them down. If a white person say jump then they jump. wake up black people

634.02 NOISE DISTURBANCES PROHIBITED. In addition to the specific prohibitions outlined in this chapter, no person shall unreasonably make, continue, or cause to be made, continued, or permitted, any noise disturbance as further provided in Section 648.09. This section shall not apply to noncommercial public speaking and public assembly activities conducted on any public space or public right-of-way with a permit from the Director of Public Safety.

(a) No person shall play any radio, music player, such as a boom box, tape cassette, disc player or television, or an audio system or musical instrument, or any other type of sound device, upon any public road, street, highway or private property in the City in a manner or at a volume as to disturb the quiet, comfort or repose of other persons. An exception shall be made for organized events which have received a valid permit from the City, as set forth in Section 878.01 of these Codified Ordinances and any other applicable sections.

(b) No person shall play any radio, music player, such as a boom box, tape cassette, disc player or television, or an audio system or musical instrument, or any other type of sound device, in a manner or at a volume as to disturb the quiet, comfort or repose of neighboring inhabitants or at a volume which is plainly audible to persons other than those who are in the room in which such device or instrument is played and who are voluntary listeners thereto.

(c) No person shall play any radio, music player or an audio system in a motor vehicle at such volume as to disturb the quiet, comfort or repose of other persons or at a volume, which is plainly audible to persons other than the occupant or occupants of said vehicle.

(d) Whoever violates division (a) or (b) of this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor for a first offense and a misdemeanor of the second degree for any subsequent offense, and the following penalties shall apply:

(1) First offense: A mandatory fine of one hundred dollars ($100.00);

(2) Second offense: A mandatory fine of two hundred dollars ($200.00); and

(3) Third offense and thereafter: A mandatory of fine of three hundred dollars ($300.00) and three days in jail.

Upon conviction for a violation of division (a) or (b) of this section, the sound device used during the commission of the offense shall be subject to seizure and payment of a judgment.

(e) Whoever violates division (c) of this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor for a first offense and a misdemeanor of the second degree for any subsequent offense, and the following penalties shall apply:

(1) First offense: A mandatory fine of two hundred dollars ($200.00);

(2) Second offense: A mandatory fine of four hundred dollars ($400.00); and

(3) Third offense and thereafter: A mandatory fine of six hundred dollars ($600.00).

Upon conviction for a violation of division (c) of this section, the sound device used during the commission of the offense shall be subject to seizure and payment of a judgment.

Remember when Lansky touted 26,000 population in Maple Heights (on the Maple Heights City website) up until around May of this year?

Well, because of public pressure, he was forced to lower that figure on the Maple Heights City website to reflect the census taken in 2010(23,138).

Now we all know that foreclosures have continued and even student enrollment has declined, but here's the latest on the Maple Heights website under the mayor's name.

"We take great pride in our community of over 23,000 residents," A play on words ("over 23,000"). Let's ask ESOP how many foreclosures there's been in Maple Heights since the 2010 census?Let's also ask, .. How many felons have been released and now live in Maple Heights?

These politicians are something else. They don't want to acknowledge that under their administration, things have gotten worse.

"NationwideIt is common to see a police department comprised of fewer than 25 officers. In fact, the CBS Interactive Business Network reports that 87 percent of all police departments in the United States have just a few dozen officers in their force. Most small cities and towns do not need the extensive manpower that large cities require and have no trouble employing just a few officers."

---Yet, Mayor Lansky keeps talking about adding more to the department when the population keeps declining, and the city and residents are in financial distress. Doesn't make sense.

Well, if you're trying to improve your image or a departments image, one thing that may work is to get an award (even if you nominated yourself or that department).

Awards are always suspect and tricky, because you never know who really bestowed that award or why.

I have a friend who is always putting herself up for an award, and she gets all her friends and others to vote for her. Did she really deserve the award? .. maybe yes, maybe no. But nevertheless, the award is good for her image.

Same thing with politicians getting involved in groups they never would be involved in, but now because that group is getting positive public spin, you decide to join that group.

Be wary:Is the award really deserved or is it pitched and spun in order to pump up a deflated public image or to put political gloss coating on cracked walls?

They feed u what they want and hide the big stuff. Some of these politicians are full of crap. They bleed their cities dry while they bullshit u with a reward or two that who knows how they got or the real reasons why it was bestowed on them.Masters at manipulation.

How to Find the Crime Rate of a City:http://www.ehow.com/how_5657885_crime-rate-city.html

also:Warning

A crime rate is a statistical data of incidents that are reported. Crime rates don't detail the number of crimes that go unreported due to victimization or intimidation. Also, the major crime data is composed from populations of 100,000 or more people. Small towns and suburban areas are included, but the crimes committed in these tiny areas may not be well represented. Another concern is that these reports are voluntarily submitted to the FBI, meaning some criminal activity is not accounted for.

and:

It is now widely accepted by social researchers that official crime statistics have significant limitations. These include:

1. Some crimes are not reported to the police because: The general public regards them as too trivial. The victim finds the matter embarrassing. Individuals are unaware that they are victims (e.g., fraud or confidence tricks).

Lack of confidence or trust in the police

A fear of reprisals or victimization The victim may take law into own hands—a form of rough justice. Children may not understand issues. Victim may not want to harm the offender (e.g., domestic violence and abuse).

2. Some crimes are much more likely to be reported and recorded than others:

3. Police discretion can influence reporting and recording: Some forces will pay less attention to certain types of offenses

4. Changes in legislation, technologies and police manpower can influence the crime figures:

5. Social and economic changes can influence the volume of official crime recorded: The decline in close-knit communities and greater population mobility can reduce informal social control and influence the crime rate.

This is what keeps pissing me off about the Music in the Park series ... Same token Black vendor who had those vote for Lansky signs all around its property in 2011 ... and same appeal to mostly older whites ... and (what?) now 2 (?) token black groups?

And did you notice that the mayor's splash parties (that seemed to hold more appeal to whites) were incorporated into the music in the park series, ... so what? .. somebody wouldn't notice that these same (mayor's splash party) groups are still there

And did you catch that "nigger" comment on last year's critique of the music in the park series post?

1. Politicians who go sniffing around Black folks blogs to do damage control when someone writes something negative about them

2. Politicians who think Blacks are stupid enough to fall for "30 pieces of silver" and "crumbs off the table" ... like giving them part-time jobs.

Here's some reading (and hopefully the politician who goes running over to the publisher of the following publication to get good press, will be rebuffed and acknowledged for being an opportunist) - [my hopes are high]

"Uncensored president implies voters must watchdog city councils and state legislatures to control cops and eliminate civil rights abusing laws'

VERY SOUND ADVICE

see the article at: http://www.clevelandchallenger.com/obama-says-governors-mayors-responsible-trayvon-martin/

We're not sure if he knew it or not, but the graphs he had on the finance dept City of Maple Heights webpage showed how the property owner was being screwed by being double taxed ... bearing the most weight of the city’s expenses.

How? Property owners pay not only property taxes, but also income taxes.

1. To be part of Section 8 housing does not mean you don't work. To apply for Section 8 housing you must be low income.Read: http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/states/ohio/renting

2. Although Maple Heights was at the epicenter of the mortgage crisis, white people also suffered, as did wealthier communities.

"The Clinton administration did issue a mandate instructing Fannie and Freddie to purchase a larger portfolio of low-income housing loans. But this had nothing, or very little, to do with the mortgage bubble. What's fascinating about this AEI stance is the evolution of the right-wing argument: the first effort to explain the mortgage crisis involved, of all things, the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977, the anti-redlining law that required banks to issue a certain percentage of home loans to the people who made up the bulk of their depositors. That propaganda effort was only mildly successful for the screamingly obvious reason that the law in question was passed in the seventies, across thirty years of crisis-free American history. That, plus the fact that the CRA had absolutely no real impact on the sudden explosion of subprime home loans in the early part of the last decade, made this a propaganda non-starter."

Everything must be about training and re-training residents for 21st century jobs and careers.

1.If a contractor wants to work in Maple Heights, make him hire and/or train a resident/s (and don't even think about some scam where you only train white residents.)

2. Find out what successful communities are doing to re-train/train its people.

3. Look for assistance from tech sector giants (there are all sorts of programs).

4. There needs to be a new way of governance. The old mayor/city charter/council model does not work. The people working at the local and state levels (probably federal too) are ill prepared to deal with a changing global economy.

5. Stop talking about internet cafes ... You politicians can do better than that.

6. Look for a non-unionized police and fire safety forces. There are volunteer forces and there are other low cost ways of dealing with safety issues.http://www.volunteerfd.org/#

I blame all the politicians (local, county, state, federal). They either make the law, create policy, decide where the money goes and to whom the money goes. Give me a break, the buck stops at the top, and with them.

The Easter event in Maple Heights a few days ago has been described as an Easter Plantation event.

Now white folks won't get it, but a lot of Black folks who witnessed the event did get it.

More crumbs off the table to Blacks by the benevolent white masters who run Maple Heights government, while millions are paid to full time public employees and contractors who are predominantly white. If it's not true, prove it.

Reports are coming in that state most if not all who put on the event did not reflect the racial demographics in the city; however, they did give hand outs (gifts and food) to the overwhelmingly Black children who attended. We were told that (white) public employees were allowed to eat while the African American parents (taxpayers) and other African American adults were not?

Sounds like plantation politics.

And was a taxpayer funded credit card used to purchase gifts? If so, hopefully no one tried to take credit for the gifts and properly disclosed that the gifts were provided by Maple Heights taxpayers (who are in fact, predominantly African American).

"Every short sale or foreclosure reduces the value of every home in the neighborhood," he says. "If folks would have waited for the recovery to kick in and housing prices to go up, they could have sold it at a profit. People just wanted to walk away from debt."From Tony Moton"The worst mortgage advice you could get" April 16, 2014

So when politicians state they don't know why homes are devalued, check out the short sales and foreclosures in your neighborhood.

"In the 1920s, Jim Crow Mississippi was, in all facets of society, a kleptocracy. The majority of the people in the state were perpetually robbed of the vote—a hijacking engineered through the trickery of the poll tax and the muscle of the lynch mob. Between 1882 and 1968, more black people were lynched in Mississippi than in any other state. “You and I know what’s the best way to keep the nigger from voting,” blustered Theodore Bilbo, a Mississippi senator and a proud Klansman. “You do it the night before the election.”

Here we go again; however now they want to just go after the residents who work outside the city to pay more in income taxes.

From the Maple Heights News:"A Charter Amendment has been introduced, by Mayor Lansky and Councilman Adams, to reduce the Income tax credit from 100% to 25%. Who will this effect? Any Maple Heights resident who pays income tax [es] and works outside the city. Right now these residents receive a credit when they file their income tax for 100% of the amount that is withheld from their paycheck for the city they work in and then if that city’s rate is less than Maple Heights 2.5% income tax they pay the difference to Maple Heights. For example, if you work in a city where the rate is 2%, 2% is withheld from your paycheck and then you pay the remaining .5% to the city. If this Charter Amendment were to pay [pass] this same person would pay 2% to the city they work in, the .5% difference to Maple Heights and an additional 1.5% to Maple Heights (because now instead of getting a 100% credit for that 2% paid to the city they work in they are only getting a 25% credit) bringing their income tax to 4%. Most city’s have a 100% credit and those who have less have a smaller income tax rate to start with (RITA Income Tax Rat Table). If this ordinance is passed by Council, residents will [see] it on the November Ballot."

Thursday Rep Barnes and Auditor Yost met with council, the mayor, and residents to explain Maple Hts fiscal watch status. some woman stood up at near the end of the meeting and told folks they should support the mayor and Adams levy in November. **[Pays not to listen to folks who have no idea what they're talking about.]

A property tax levy was defeated in 2013, an income tax levy defeated in May of this year, and now they want to sneak in the least understood "fuk the residents who work outside the city" levy for a vote in November.

Residents are getting messed w right and left. Red light cameras, levies, ... the only people having a great time are the police (driving around in new police cars, who we hear have refused to take cuts in salary) and surprise surprise, most don't live in Maple Heights. So that levy in November won't hurt them a bit. Could it be the mayor and Adams are considering running again in 2015 and need the support of the police union?

Was it Councilwoman Toni Jones or someone else that asked residents if they wanted to volunteer (?) their time to help them out at city hall?

People who know what goes on in Maple Heights know that most of our taxp dollars go to businesses that are not in Maple Heights, and to a lot of individuals (that includes Maple Heights govt employees) who don't live in Maple Heights.

Why would anyone with a brain in their head volunteer knowing where most of their tax dollars go?

Something nefarious is happening in Maple Heights. Monies have left Maple Heights faster than anyone can imagine, and a whole bunch of folks (except residents) are getting/and have gotten fat and rich screwing over the people that live in Maple Hts.

Volunteer? YOU MUST BE OUT OF YOUR MIND!

Here's a heads up, a lot of you politicians and appointed public servants are going to be up out of Maple Heights come Nov 2015.

Recent photo opps and publicity show Maple Heights police getting a pat on the back. What is disturbing, and it appears this city's officials do not seem to get, is that in all the photos not one black cop.

More disturbing, when you look at city hall leadership and safety forces, all you see is a sea of white in a town that is basically black. That's nothing to be proud of.

What does this say? The predominantly Black community is financially benefiting an ethnic and racial group that doesn't reflect them. That's called institutional racism.

Shocking that whites and especially blacks don't get it. Wake up Black community.

Unfortunately, police (and too many others in law enforcement) don't have thick skins. They should because they have the capability to harm you (and in most cases, get away with it). If you talk about them in a negative fashion, you may be opening yourself up to harassment or worse by those in Blue.

Since at least 2012 (when I started asking for Maple Heights public records), I've written about my experiences with Maple Heights police and those in Maple Heights government who would definitely be subject to "color of law" abuses. If you know how whistle blowers are treated and in light of the Michael Brelo verdict, you will understand why, from this point on, I'll be documenting (cameras and/or written) police presence around me.

Since as far back as I can remember, when I've spotted them in Maple Heights, they are passing by me heading in the opposite direction from where I'm heading. [All cars with GPS (like mine) can be tracked by law enforcement.] This morning around 8:15 am I was heading to the McDonalds on Broadway (via Maple Heights Blvd) when a police car (tag #4424) passed by me going SE on Maple Heights Blvd. Coincidence or not ... I'm still going to document their presence around me; and I'd advise protesters (esp. those who have been arrested), bloggers who criticize the police, and whistle blowers to do the same.

6:58PMOn my way to Walgreen via Maple Heights Blvd and turning right on Lee RdSpot patrol car on Libby that turns left onto Lee heading to police station (tag #4434), behind that patrol car is another (tag #4422). I assumed both were going to the police station; however, one of them passes by me and immediately turns around and comes up beside me.

Well this is interesting. Remember I said that Maple Heights police usually travel in the opposite direction that I'm traveling (usually) when they're up to their habits? That's ok with me because I'm able to get the tag #. Not sure if this is going to become a habit, but today a Maple Heights police vehicle passed me (opposite direction- Libby/Thomas near my home - 9:41am) with no tag in the front. Make what of it as ye may.

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Luke 11:9-10 says,

"So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

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Welcome to the Maple Heights African American Gazette, created for the African American residents in districts 1 thru 7. If you would like to post your small business, post pictures, post an event on the calendar page, write an article, or upload a video, or be included in our mailing list, please email mhaagazette@gmail.com , or call 216.202.4083 and leave a message.

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THE NEW JIM CROW

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IT'S IMPORTANT THAT AFRICAN AMERICANS VOTE, AND THEN ONLY VOTE FOR POLITICIANS (LOCAL, STATE, FED) WHO WILL PROTECT THEIR CIVIL/CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS.

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IT IS ALSO IMPORTANT THAT AFRICAN AMERICANS VOTE FOR/HIRE PUBLIC EMPLOYEES IN THE LEGAL/JUDICIAL SYSTEM (INCLUDES THE COURTS, THE POLICE, ETC) WHO WILL PROTECT THEIR CIVIL/CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS.--AND MOST IMPORTANT - TO VOTE FOR/HIRE ONLY THOSE POLITICIANS/PUBLIC EMPLOYEES THAT WILL EMPOWER AFRICAN AMERICANS POLITICALLY AND ECONOMICALLY. ... REAL POWER AND NOT CRUMBS OFF THE TABLE AS WE'VE SEEN OVER AND OVER AGAIN.